Senior Superintendent of Police Prem Narine on Monday confirmed that Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, were under surveillance by the Special Branch Unit on the day they were arrested in connection with a United States request for their extradition.
The confirmation came as questions about alleged monitoring of the Mohamed family featured prominently during cross-examination in their extradition proceedings.
Narine, Head of the Special Branch Unit, was being cross-examined by defence attorney Siand Dhurjon before Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman as the proceedings continued at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The extradition case commenced on January 6.
When asked whether Azruddin Mohamed and his father were under surveillance on October 31, 2025, the day of their arrest, Narine answered, “yes.”
Dhurjon subsequently questioned Narine about how police located Azruddin Mohamed before his arrest.
Narine explained that he did not immediately know where Azruddin Mohamed was and had to make checks at several locations. When asked whether he physically visited those locations, Narine said he instead made telephone inquiries.
“I picked the phone up and I made inquiries,” Narine told the court.
The defence also sought to establish whether Special Branch Unit had been monitoring Azruddin Mohamed before the extradition request was received from the United States.
Dhurjon suggested that surveillance of Azruddin Mohamed had been ongoing since early 2024 and that the majority of Special Branch Unit resources had been focused on him.
Narine rejected the suggestion, stating, “That’s not true.”
Asked who had instructed him to keep Azruddin Mohamed under surveillance, Narine responded, “No one instructed me.”
Dhurjon then suggested that President Dr. Irfaan Ali had instructed Narine to monitor Azruddin Mohamed.
Narine denied the allegation, stating, “That is not true.” He also rejected the suggestion that the alleged instruction had started in 2024.
The defence further questioned Narine about alleged surveillance during Azruddin Mohamed’s political activities in 2025.
Asked whether Special Branch Unit had monitored Azruddin Mohamed during an outreach in Pomeroon in June 2025, Narine said, “I can’t recall.”
He also said he could not recall whether surveillance had been conducted during Azruddin Mohamed’s visits to the Rupununi.
Dhurjon suggested that a white Toyota Allion bearing registration PAK-1033 had been used by police to follow the Opposition Leader during political outreach.
Narine rejected the suggestion.
He said, “The entire suggestion is wrong. I don’t know that vehicle.”
The defence also suggested that more than 15 vehicles had been used by Special Branch Unit to surveil Azruddin Mohamed and his family. Narine said he was “not aware” of this.
The cross-examination was later deferred until 1:30 p.m.
